Archive for August, 2014

So you are diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. You know that there is no cure for that, right? Don’t be sorry. It happens because you have been abusing your body for so long and you are reaping the rewards for that abuse. But it is not the end of the road for you. As long as you quit smoking there is still promise waiting for you even if you have COPD. Living with COPD should not be a source of drag. You can still live normally despite having the condition. Here are some steps that you can take to quit smoking and live a normal and healthy live even if you have COPD.

It clears things up

The best step you can make when you are trying to survive despite COPD is to quit smoking. The moment you make that decision to quit is an opportunity to overcome the challenges of having COPD. Getting rid of the habit improves your chances to have a healthier lung and slow down the progression of total lung failure. Even years after quitting the health benefits to the lungs remain evident. In just eight years, the loss of lung function will be the same rate as non-smokers. Let’s face it. The lung damage that has been done is no longer reversible. But if you quit now, your COPD woes will be less cumbersome and the symptoms will be minimal.

It improves life

When a smoker quits smoking tobacco, suddenly their outlook in life changes for the better. The mindset improves because there is a renewed sense of keeping the body healthy. Most quitters employ health strategies and modify their lifestyle to improve lung function or at least reduce the rate of decline due to COPD. Former smokers are more active than ever. You will start seeing people with COPD doing more activities and even engaging in recreational running if not joining competitions such as road races or at least half-marathons. The conditions will lead to happier and more contented life that is no longer slave to the addiction of nicotine that has been the thorn for so long.

It makes you value life

Smokers have this devil-may-care attitude about life. When smokers started smoking they just want to appear cool despite the health warnings. Smokers often ignore it because hey people only live once. It will not until something hits the fan that smokers realize that they are living a lie all these years. Smoking is not cool but utter stupidity to waste precious moments on earth and becoming selfish to the needs of friends and family having you around.

COPD cannot be cured but certainly you can live longer even if you have it. Quitting is the first step that any sufferer should take. It sets the tone for better things to happen. Quitting improve the physical as well as the mental well-being. These are important because once you have COPD you may become depressed. COPD is incurable but it does not mean that you can’t do something about it.

Scientists are saying that the emergence of electronic cigarettes can be the beginning on the new phase towards a route for nicotine addiction to the youth. E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that are designed to look like regular cigarettes. The vapes are being promoted as healthier and safer alternatives to tobacco. The main reason that made vapes safer than tobacco is the absence of harmful chemicals that has been causing millions of deaths each year. But the popularity of electronic cigarettes raises serious worry and concern among health advocates on how electronic cigarettes are catching up with the youth.

A new study that assessed the e-cigarette use in Korea showed that it is possible that electronic cigarette use among youths will be on the rise. The devices remain largely unregulated and there are some places where the youth can have easy access to it. Some big metropolitan cities around the world have increased the legal purchasing age from 18 to 21 years old. However, it remains more of an exception than the rule.

Despite the fact that electronic cigarettes are made available to the youth, the penetration to the youth has been seen as substantial. A study from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the usage of electronic cigarettes among the youth has doubled in 2012 from 2011 figures. It has been estimated that 1.78 million students have been using the devices in 2012 according to the report released by the CDC.

In the Korean study it was revealed that four in five Korean adolescent smokers are dual users. It means that they are using electronic cigarettes and regular cigarettes at the same time. It is possible that the youth are using electronic cigarettes as a form of smoking-cessation aid. This is also apparent in the report that CDC based their pronouncements. Most of American youths that have been using electronic cigarettes are already tobacco smokers. The usage of adolescent smokers of electronic cigarettes may be consistent to the marketing message that vaping device makers are trying to put across all these time.

If this behavior proves true then the aim of electronic cigarettes can be spot on. Makers of vapes have been pushing electronic cigarettes as smoking-cessation aids. A small Italian study showed the potential of electronic cigarettes to help smokers quit smoking. In that study, 21 percent of people that were using electronic cigarettes have quit smoking after 30 days. The number increased to 47 percent after a year.

The Korean study shows that eight percent of the people that currently using conventional cigarettes. This means that smokers are likely to use electronic cigarettes than non-smokers. The usage odds are higher among cigarette smokers that are trying to quit than those who are trying to get addicted to nicotine but previously are non-smokers.

However, health advocates are fearful that electronic cigarettes may actually entice non-smokers to try nicotine and actually embroiled in a web of addiction. Researchers found out that it is possible that non-smokers will become addicted by way of electronic cigarette use. They are worried that the usage of electronic cigarettes may reduce the odds that the youth will actually quit smoking.

The youth may no longer pursue quitting because they are not getting the harm that is being provided by conventional cigarettes since they are using electronic cigarettes. It may also reduce the odds that young people will attempt to quit smoking.

The new study can send a mixed signal. The important thing to note is the fact that more young smokers are finally seeing the benefits of quitting conventional tobacco cigarettes. Whether or not the use of electronic cigarettes will lead to quitting that would be reserved to an entirely different debate.